Prompt: "You do know that we're in public, right?"
Beca Mitchell looked absolutely stunning in her red, shimmering, floor-length dress. Chloe couldn't take her eyes off the TV screen as the Grammy winning recording artist walked up the steps to join her fellow artists on the red carpet, wincing slightly at the flashes of the cameras facing her.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Aubrey asked softly as she took a seat on the sofa next to her friend and passed her a large glass of red wine.
"Do what?" the redhead asked absently.
"This… Jesus, Chloe. You have to try to move on."
"I know…" Chloe muttered, then took a big gulp from her glass as Beca appeared on the screen, standing next to a very enthusiastic interviewer.
"And here we are with twelve-time Grammy Award winner, Beca Mitchell. How are you feeling tonight, Beca?"
"Tired. My feet hurt in these hells," the brunette replied, looking the interviewer straight in the eye. "Did I say hells? I'm right though, they should be called hells, not heels. In fact, why the hell do I even wear these things? Oh right, because I'm still as tiny as the day I was born."
Aubrey frowned. "What is she doing? Is she drunk?"
The interviewer blinked but pressed ahead. "You're here to present tonight, right?"
"So they tell me," Beca replied. "I just got off a plane from Seattle, so I'm pretty jetlagged."
Again, the interviewer blinked. "Jetlagged?" he repeated.
"I'm just fuckin' with ya." Beca stopped and looked at him again, this time taking a shaky breath. "My… my mom died today."
Chloe gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Then she sat forward to pull her sneakers on and tie them. Aubrey put a hand on her arm. "Chlo…"
"Don't," the vet snapped. "I know what you're going to say. She may be my ex-girlfriend but I'm not going to let her go through this alone. She doesn't have anyone else."
The blonde just shrugged. "I was going to say I'll drive you."
Chloe shook her head. "Sorry, Aubs."
Two minutes later, they were on the highway and ten after that, the doula was dropping her friend off a block away from the theater. Chloe ran through the crowd as fast as she could, dodging gowns and tuxedos and then hopping over a fence to evade security. She spotted Beca just coming to the end of the red carpet to enter the theater and she screamed her name, but it was drowned out by the other thousand people screaming it too. Then she had an idea and she got as close to her ex as she could, leaning over the fence to sing as loudly as she could.
"I GOT MY TICKET FOR THE LONG WAY ROUND!
TWO BOTTLES OF WHISKEY FOR THE WAY!"
She paused as Beca froze and looked back over her shoulder. Then her eyes searched the crowd as she turned and took a few steps back toward the cameras.
"BECA!" the redhead yelled. "I'M HERE!"
"Chloe?!" It was a flash of red hair that caught the singer's attention and she reached out a hand. "CHLOE!"
And then Chloe was hopping over the fence and running straight into Beca's arms for a long hug. "I'm sorry," she said into the brunette's ear as she felt hands grasp at her. "I'm so sorry about your mom."
"Stop! Let her go!" Beca suddenly said sternly, and Chloe relaxed as the grasping hands disappeared. Then the singer held the redhead at arm's length, just gazing at her. "Chloe, how… how did you… why are you here?"
"I love you, Beca," Chloe replied. "I couldn't let you be alone. I know what she means to you."
"The last thing she said to me was… Be happy. And I'm not, Chloe. I'm just living this…" Beca looked around at the adoring fans who were screaming at her. "Whatever this is. It's not living, without you, Chloe, and I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I let other people tell me who I'm supposed to be. You were right to leave. I had to be miserable without you before I could really appreciate what we had." She cupped the redhead's face between her hands. "Please come home, Chlo? Please?"
"I can't live in your closet, Beca," Chloe said. "I can't be 'the best friend' in public anymore. Please don't ask me to..."
But her words were stolen as Beca's lips captured hers confidently yet tenderly and a million flashes went off around them. After a long span of breaths, they eased back and looked into each other's eyes.
"You do know that we're in public, right?" Chloe asked then with a beaming smile, caressing her love's cheek.
"I know," Beca replied cheerfully. "This'll be in every publication tomorrow." Then she took Chloe's hand, lacing their fingers together, and led her back along the red carpet to grab a taxi. "Let's get the hell out of here."